topping the agenda today, game on, sports fans, the nfl refs are headed bac to the gridiron. and political fan, once again, both candidates are headed to the same state. this time they're gng toe to toe in the old dominion. justdanthe cpaign super bowl election day. and barack obama and mitt romney will campaign just over 200 miles apart. their third straight day in the same place. their events are scheduled for the exact same time this hour, 11:50 eastern. incidence? i tht. on dftneri connect with voters in a new ad in which he looked directly at the camera, president obama is out with his own doing the very same thin >> too many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living pchk t yche. >> today i believe that as a nation we are moving forward again. we have much more to do, to get folks back to work and make the middle class secure again. >>ut as he trails in the polls can romney convince vots that he cares about all of them?

even now after thamps ht t fumble about the 47%? >> i've been across this country, my heartaches for the people i've seen. we have people that are hurting. we have people who are disabled and people who are poor. they need our help. and they receive our help. we're a ctable people. >>ery chi ait that ad that straight to camera advertisement that they realize how devastating that 47% videotape wa because what he's no trying to communicate is this compassion. he's really changed his message in the last 48hos. >> it' aut w republicans are in washington. >> that would mean -- >> really radical message that that romney is saddled with and he can't get out of the it. >> join meg now is florida congressman debbie wasserman schultz ch ngrewoma igrto s yoismog. the latest polling is show that president obama is ahead, anywhere from five to eight

points in virginia. that's where the two candidates will be today. romney is writing off all the battleground polling putting the president in the lead. he did so specifically yesteay on abc. take alisten. >> i'm vyleas wom s. less so with other polls. but frankly at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down. i don't expect to get 100% of the vote. i know i'm not going to bet 100%. i hope to get 50 plus percent and make sure that i bome the nextresident. >> as we look at this ve g daily tracking to, w putting romney within four points of the margin of error. the romney campaign and the republican super pacs have only just begun unleashi its ma massive campaign cash. n romney use the debates, use vehirt going oney inesve to forward? >> well, we don't put much stock in polls, good or bad, at this point, particularly 40 days out. we aoming in to the debater isries in which we know that

ic ryrt t f more in a more laser like way on the choice that ey have in front of them, mr. romney is an experienced debater, particularly with more recent experience. and what we are focused on, thomas, though, are things like the fact tha earlyoting starts in iowaod a t thsll an opportunity to get registered to vote and we encourage people to go to gottoregister.com so that they can get themselves signed up to register to vote and make sure that they can weigh in on this very cle choice that we have innt ofs 4ay f >> you make a great point. iowa is the first swing state. . started at 9:00 a.m. eastern. i know that president obama spoke to the des moines register, saying, there isn't a state that is better informed about politics, tking about iowa specifically. mitt rney though finally tog his msachetts hh caaws tries to make the case that he is a compassionate, conservative, just like george w. bush. take a listen to this interview he gave to nbc's ron allen

yesterday. >> throughout this campaign, as well, we've talked about my record in massachusetts. don't forget, i got everybodyn sta insured. 100% of the kids in our state have health insurance. i don't think there's anything that shows more i'm pat think and care about the people of this country than that kind of record. >> as chuck todd point i'd out this morning the question really wa't specifically about health cait a css an empathy and he interjected his record for massachusetts and health care and what they were able to accomplish there. can mitt romney turn his health care plan inton advantage now especially since they've been trying to distance themselves fromhat all along? >> well, i think there's some mn bly mentions his role in passing health care reform in massachusetts when the first thing he pledged to do if he were to become president of the united states is repeal obama care and roll back all of those same provisions for americans. there are millions of amerins o have benedow have

health insurance who didn't before, thanks to obama care. the young adults who can stay on their parents insurance until they're 26, seniors who are saving an average of $600 on their prescription drugs thanks to obama care, closing the doughnut hole. mn w do is the incredibly compassionate thing of repealing all of those reforms and leaving seniors and children and young adults in a situation where their health care is prohibitively expensive and if you hav a pre-existing nditn can bpp by insurance companies once again. >> it is a little bit of a whiplash factor to figure out, is it an advantage or disadvantage, talking about it or not talk about it. do want to speak though and get your, pert background about the two big factors in your home state, senior vote a jh . i c t medicare, the fight is not even close. in all of these states, the voters favor the president's approach on this. but onhe question of israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressing the u.n.

today an he's been very hard on the president. "theew york times" also today saying theepublicans are e jh vote.ma a b playor would the angst of jewish voter on the question of iran put the jewish vote into play? >> if you look at the gallop poll of jewish voters, president ama is a%th question of which candidate jewish voters are likely to vote for in the election were to the t and that's ahead of what they were in the election in 2008. that's because, thomas, one thing is that on domesc issues, whether it's making inmeinedioea care, research, head start, civil work, standing up for people who have no voice. sh a very important season for jus an a time in which we focus on the importance to repairing d,t mneynd the republicans are wrong on every

issue that matters to jus domestically and we are making sure that jewish voters understand that president obama has a stellar record on israel. an, in fact, i would just push back a little bit and say that p.m. netanyahu and president obama have a very closeor relationship, that they meet and talk regularly a they have on k consistently said that he std by president obama. i think the record is very clear and there are israeli lders ssolal spectrum in israel who has consistently said that israel has no greater friend than president obama. >> they would ta any vulnerability. >> i think what they're doing -- >> obama was able to take 78% of th . >>t moik of the vote, but i believe strongly. i'm confident that jewish voters will overwhelmingly support the president because of the issues that are important to jewish voter s do mess tickically and because of his incredibly strong

record in israel. as first jewh w t esfla ons i take my love of israel to work with me every single day and i'm very proud to support this president because of his incredible record on israel a consistently having israel's back and i think my constituents in south florida as well as jus across the country wille there foest a as well for both of those reasons. >> congresswoman, thanks so much. we always support fellow around here. i tell you happy birthday. we do support libras. >> thank you. > we bring in our powl. til reporter for the "washington post." phil richardson is is the former governor of new mexico and before that the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and republican strategist alice. it's great to have all three of you here. both the candidates busy day in virginia t, thisour president obam i sulo speak at a rally of about 20,000 in virginia beach at an amphitheater there. that being one of the largest

military communities in th country. at the same time, mitt romney is going to address vets at an american legion post in ringfield. romney still has this h money advantage, so how does he turn this thing around to make it worth his while with all that cash in reserves, can he be able to pull through in virginia and take it to other places like north carolina? >> well, i think one of the thgs you see them doing already is doing the me direct ad of crs tre he's looking directly at the camera talking out his empathy, casting himself as a compassi compassionate person. i think you will obviously see that. and there are obviously looking at the debates as well as real chance t clarify the sitis. d democrats have really run an inaccurate campaign and they feel like the debates will be their first chance to really go one-on-one and really point up the contrast, make this a referendum. the question will be will these

y sa tve ton hamu of money they can spend in the swing states. i think one of the problems is are they going to be able to say anything differently than they've already said? they've been up with adsn some of the swing states already. ha't made much of a differen. and u feel like i se ws ry ill believes it's the early stages and they haven't necessarily hit the panic button yet and they might want to start looking at doing that in boston. >> meanwhile, as you bring up that ad for mitt romney, we have the dnc out with a new ad today using romney's own words against him. let's take a look. >>oo mymens stling to find work in today's economy. i like being able to fire people. tooany of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck. i tell you what, 10,000 bucks? >> that's quite a mch-up that we're watching there. the back and forth o romney's owrdeidin him in his first campaign ad where he's directly looking into the voters' ice aeyes and now the

governor is touting the fact he was'mempathetic to his ate. this is something they haven't heralded but something they distanced themselves for because of hatheir disdain for obama ca. >> i think he's trying to move to the center and it's bical te an'slso not working. i mean, the most devastating quote is this one about he's proud about insuring every kid in massachusetts, when he's against obama care, when he's railed against the entire health care plan of the president. thhenlpeig no i still think it's going to be very close, the debates. challengers do well in debates. i think governor romney's good debater. he'll probably pick up a little bit from the debates. but i see that as his only chance. now, what he haso avoi t th debates is a danger of a

miscue in the foreign policy area because he doesn't have any experience there. you know, mispronouncing the name of a country, of a leader, getting a conflict wrong. but i see the datess probab hisast ditch ho. he hes gbe higher, the heat is going to be hotter. it's the first one on october 3rd, less than a week away. alice, one of the late night shows is having a little fun at mitt romney's direct to camera ad. let's take a look. >> the ad is called tooany amicans. and e goal see to be to show at romyoe id c out americans who are struggling financially. and he does a pretty good job with it. >> too many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. too many o those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck. more americans are livg in porty thahesi ob took office. and 15 million more are on food stamps. my plan will create 12 million new jobs over the next four years. >> so alice, instead of trying

to make people see that he feels their pain, if you weredvising mitt romney, do you think tha horokt lobster and say, if you want to be rich like me, vote for me, because i can get you there, i've got the plan to do it? >> well, that was certainly a sce, but ihink if i were advising the romney campaign i would encourage them to continue what ty're doing, which is focusing on jobs andhe stressing his plan all along has been a plan for middle class. and creating jobs for this country, focusing on energy, independent skills that will allow people to succeed, a trade that works for ameca, deficit reducti smbussic nhan what the president has done. and as we get in the debates it will be critical to show the contrast between governor romney and the president. the good thing is wasserman schultz down played the president's expectations as expected by the democrat but he is the gted ea thobis hoe nav the gift of a positive record to

run on. the economy is in the toilet and t current news we have on informed poli is troubling. the administration knew this was a terrorist attack within the first 24ours yet they continue de a movie trailer, put ambassador rice out there being extremely dishonest with the american people. that's troubling. and those troops will come out in the detes. >> alice, we've gone to war with countries saying they were responsible for nerch when they really weren't. i'm talking about iraq. gi theteseit leeway here on figuring out exactly what's what to go with the facts. thursday power panel, thank you. we're going to have the governor to stick around because we're going to be talking to you about libya and the situation it's going on with the white house right now. foreign policy, that is. d ime nister benjamin netanyahu is scheduled to give a tough speech on iran in the next hour, setting a clear redline. is he trying to back the president into a corner? plus, good call. nfl referees back on the field

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within the hour, benjamin netanyahu will speak before the united nations general assembly he will set a cleed ne chardson is the former governor of new mexico and before that, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. sir, it's good to have you stick around with us. senior israeli official said this to the media as the p.m. travelled to new york forhe u.n. meeting. am mayahu will set a clear read

obama said iran won't have nuclear weapons. the prime minister will clarify the way in which iran won't have nuclear arms. now, netanyahu is also expected, r, to warn the time for diplomacy with tehran is not unlimited. where doou think tha t whhocago fm here especially when we would most americans would prefer to see all this handled on a diplomatic front? >> well, i think the president in his u.n. speech a couple days ago was very clear. we're not going to permit iran to get nuclear weapons. 're ing to do ihr continued very crippling sanctions with other nations, with europeans diplomatically, pursue negotiations although they're not working. i think recently the president anuncea d listg of inian si g w iy popular around the world and here in the u.s. i think the president's record is very strong andssociating himself with a positive side of

the arab spring b at the same time respondinger t against terrorism, al qaeda, decimated al qaeda, he got bin laden. so i think it's a situation in the middle east where the tension is palpable but the president responded accatel >>htow moved to the strictest sanctions imposed on that country. one thing the president has been getting a lot of grief about is getting the meetings of world leaders with the secreta of state hillary clinton with this u.n. general assembly visit. not meeting with oneor yhihe president passed up an opportunity to meet eye too eye? we know the phone calls happened behind the scenes and we know there is leader shich wiship wi perception being a reality. >> i was u.n. ambassador. i accompanied president clint wh he mngt the u.n. at the u.n., you don't have to

have one-on-one bilaterals you see all of these leaders at lunches, at receptions, at dinners. he has talked to the leaders recently that he nds to, prime nist netanyahu, karzai of afghanistan, the pakistanis, the middle east, the european leaders. you know, this is a very weak kind of accusation. secretary of state clinton spks forheresint. she's verytronand power phil s ful secretary of state. i've been here at the u.n. the last few days complaini about mo thit midsecry to crism. this is politics. and unfortunately some of this criticism on libya, on the arab

spring, on what happened with the ambasdor has nev pp be. eateartin -- >> where does america go with the libya situation though? what will americans tolerate know that our ambassador was assassinated in that con consulate there and the white house coming out and corn firm that tyo believe it was a terrort attack? >> we hon wee resnd to that terrorist attack. and if it takes force, we do it. we try to find who's responsible. and i think the other option is libyan justice but my views that it's important at the estnds nd these rpto administration have been very good and successful in finding terrorists, in decimating al qaeda, in afghanistan and all arou the world. i think once again, use the intelligent resources thawe d at'stdoresnd. >> former governor of new mexico, bill richardson. sir, great to have you year.

>> congratulations on your upcoming wednesdaying. >> saturday. >> i don't want you to work on saturday here. >> thank you. i have tomorrow off as well. i will be biting my nails after this show until then. thk you, sir. >> so a cal dioou come today on pennsylvania's controversial voter id law. witnesses testifying right now about the hurdles and the hoops that they've had to jump through in order to get valid id. will that law get toed? we'll explore that and much more after this.

welcome back. right now we're keeping a close eye on pennsylvania courtroom where lawyers are challenging the state's controversial voter id law. nine witnesses are testifying about their difficult experiences in tryg to get a state-sued photo id. the law's opponents hope w from taking effect before november. state officials argue the number of people who don't have a driver's license and then need the state photo, i d is relatively small.

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 well, if itmr. margin?margin. don'be mesob u fod ttaytok wlba that was ups. and who called ups? you did, bob. i just asked a question. it takes a long time to pack a bowling ball. the last guy pitched more ball packers. but you... you consulted ups. u found a better way. that's logistics. that's margin. find out what else ups knows. i'll dthat you'n a roll that's fuy. i wasn't being funny, bob.

i know. e tsiiaandidates we wil s to duke it out in the second day straight in the same battleground state. they have competing appearances in virginia just over 200 miles away from each other and both romney and ryan are reunited. does it feel so good? "the new york times" says the o me wil shahen e t more over the next few weeks. but is that creating a strain within their campaign ticket? recent comments seem to suggest just that. >> i'm the guy run for president, not him. wow. that's quite a guy, isn't it? paul ryan, isn't that something? wait a second. wait a second. romney/ryan. romney/ryan. there you go. >> governor romney says that 47% of americans will vote for president obama because they are dependent on the government.

this has sparked a lot o reaconou whid ryn by that? >> yes. he was obviously inarticulate at making this point. >> joining me in studio is nbc contributor and daily beast columnist meghan mccain and son gh pic columnist wrotet re. a satire call piece about romney and ryan and spoke to my colleague jansing. >>aul ryan is treated like a surrogate. he doesn't get to cose his own staff. he has a sta l mitt romney around him every minute. he is told what to say and told what to do. that's fine as long as romney is winning. but romney is not winning. he's losing. esti candidate to act in his or her own way to unleash

sarah palin to start attacking barack obama more. >> so meghan, as we all know. your dad certainly dealt wit tensions within the ticket of himself, sarah palin, for any o esendesgh behind the scenes there is ego, ambition, and the perception of what the voters see. do you think there is a behind the scenes strain that' going on because, as we also mentioned, the fact that congressmaryan is still running for h same seat. things don't go well as role for vice president. >> first of all that gentleman from politico wrote a satirecal article. they would not ever do that. second of all, i think there's a really obnoxious president lun mes are going to go rogue. which has been set with this sort of game change narrative that people expect republican candidatesow to have inviting. it's ridiculous. it's side the beltway b.s. as far ai'm concerned and from everything i know, i'm good prends with many people on the romney campaign, this is total s.

vefaral in another cable news network advising romney and ryan to go rogue using that very phrase? >> if she does that -- >> there are people out there who listen to her, certainly tea pay act vitss across the country that are listening to her and peopleho want to see romney and ryan win this ti. s bad advice coming from the go rogue artist hess? >> terrible advice. we need to put a united front, they need to come together, which i believe they're doing the paul ryan h done over 150 interviews since announced as poto joe biden who has a only one one, which is new york magazine, which is not going to swing swing voters, as far as i'm concerned. no, i don't believe that'sood advice at all. she can give advice all day long butoing rog i notoo romney will be more like paul ryan as we saw on that one campaign stop, the crowd cheering ryan, ryan, ryan. mitt romney had to correct him at who is at the top of the

ticket. is there any way to avoid the tension when the vp candidate tticket?ly orshadows the top >> no. i think roger simon was on to something when he talked about the campaign not going well. i don't have any personal knowledge that there's bad blood between ryan and romney, but there had been signing of trouble there. there were signs of trouble right away. bjof libya and essentiallynt accused the president of treason. that's going way out on limb there. the vice president'sob is to go right on that limb with him and cover the president's pack. lt eyg out t doth there on his own. if there's a problem here, i imagine it has to do with ambition. that's what roger simon was touching on. paul ryan was supposed to bring excitement to the romney campaign. instead he brought a l of panton fire ratings from the factchrs miomwapped to be paul ryan's ticket to the white

house but things aren't going so well and paul ryan is probably thinking i've got a mill stone around my neck. this isn't going to help me for 2016 at all. if there is bad blood between them, that's what it . theepareit a not being satisfied by one another. >> certainly that springtime appearance in florida that was secretly recorded is not doing the ticket any faye vors and now the obama campaign is out with this new ad that's going tbe playing in a lot of different states, particularly in colorado, ida,vaew hampshire, ohio, virginia, and in iowa. let's take a look. >> i approve this message. ey are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled t health care, to housing, to you name it. and they will vote for this president no matter what.

and so my job is not to worry about those people. sd responsibility and care of their lives. >> so there's that ad. they're playing mitt romney's words but faces, meghan, real fe americans over the people that he's talking about. we keep saying 40 days until ection day but we're living tri ste y right no voting of iowa has begun. early voting has began in other places. how damning is an ad like that? >> it's the 11th hour. my biggest complaint with the romney campaign is they need to do an as reaction to that, to cotehohe complete delineation between what a romney president will look lake and what an obama president will look like. they need to make it clear, concise, and easy for people to digest which they haven't done. i hope they go back with that that is easy for people to understand. >> do you think the a mpai, because polling is showing that they are getting stronger in certain areas, certain swing states, do you

think that they risk being over confident with 40 days to go as meghan says, it is the 11th hour but there's still a lot of time. >> i suspect that they will not ththno there's plenty of time left. i think they know there are debates left here and it could be decisive if one or the other candidate makes a big gaffe. i don't think over-confidence is going to be the problem here. not at all. not for the obama campaign, no. >> something we agree on. >> look at that l consensus. meghan mccain -- >> thomas, congratulations on your wedding before we go, by the way. >> i know. >> i had no idea you were getting married on saturday. >> i know. congratulations. >> thank you. >> he's off the market, ladies. gentme so sad. >> ls gemho is watching. meghan, thanks so much. >> i've been married 32 years, tom. it's not so bad. >> no, no, we've already been together 12. i feel like we're on the right path. thank you. >> ladies and gentlemeand gentlemen. we ll see you meghan mcca

on surda >> wlkut de frhe 47% comments a very personal look at just who makes up that section of america. we just saw how the president's campaign is putting a face on those remarks in that new ad that is now showing in certain parts of the country. joining me is author laun w e powerful op-ed entitled "i was a welfare mother" accounting for her own time on assistance and romney's comments about 47%. it's great to have you here. you talk about you family's time assistance a w y realed that you and your son needed this help to get by and to build a better life. the safety net that you needed to springboard back. can you tell me what it was like for you to come to 2k3wri7s wit your yourself having to sign up for the very first time for that kind of assistance >>waer. i was very disappointed in myself. i had always worked. i had had jobs where i did very

well. and it was hard on me to see how hard it was on m parents who weren't in a position to help at that poi. it wasn't easy. it got easier as i met more people, not more -- put more people who are in the same position as i was but people at the university of new hampshire and social workers who were so dedicated to help us get through the pgram hsea to be better moms to our kids. it got easier. it really did get easier. in the beginning it was not. >> in the piece you wrote you called yourself profoundly grateful for the help you received. applying for government benefits was contactuly that, a way of taking responsibility for myself meou lives.rin aiffi those resources kept us going for four years. anyone waiting for me to apologize shouldn't hold his breath. what was your initialut reaction as you've been able to hear how those comments by m

reference to the campaign he's run and what it means about him saying for those, the 47%, not taking personal responsibility for their lives? >> i haveo say that when i first red the remarks and saw the video that went viral, i w ed s it took me a couple of day to really get mad but i was very, very sad. i know how hard the mothers and fathers on these programs work. i know statisticsreak out and at pplen ata who don't pay income taxes as he was saying specific about, aren't all on welfare. i have a lot of people i love dearly who are legitimately on social security, who take di.ic ve nws deployed now and deployed at war, service doesn't pay income tax. we pay a lot of other taxes.

we pay sales tax. we pay gas as it goes up. the idea that the percentage is madep ea l or uncaring or automatic obama voter, either, i mean, all of that is just wrong. it's just wrong. i think he realized that pretty quickly. >>f you could say one thing, though, to either president obama or to mitt romney as they theyhhtee who is against the 47% more empathetic to that part of our country, what would you say? >> i -- i don't think that it's a matter of seeming more empathetic. i want to hear policy. i want to see changes. t.don't want to seeel gs if anything, they should be increased. i don't want to see medicare or medicaid threatened for people i love and people i don't know but i know rely on those programs. we needhelp. all o usd helt s time or another.

some of us need it more than others and more than once. but because we need help doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with our moral character. >> larkin warren. larkin, thanks for joi me today. i appreciate it. ngla sls tnk you. thank you. i appreciate that. a touchdown for nfl referees, they are back to work tonight after reaching a tentative labor deal. plus, major league outing. kevincclachy talks about his decision to come out of the closet and wha it se battling homophobia at the top of pro sports. you can find me on facebook. we're back after this. we've all had those moments.

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air pollution may be putting their unborn child at risk. data from a new study shows that newborns exposed to air pollution through thei mothers had a hheriskorit deficiencies than those not exposed. the association was strongest when exposure occurred during the third trimester. welcome back. as we told you this morning we've got these dueling campaign events going on this morning in virginia. the battleground state there. at w seen these dueling ro events, different background stops today. it is in old dominion. mitt romney is just getting under way, veterans american region post 176. president obama is going to be in virgini beach atn ,0pele.treit a at least that's what they say the amphitheater holds. we do know the president is running hind schedule. 13 electoral votes up for grabs. recent polling showing president obama with a slight ad and early voting is under way. e nygeresting pops

up from these events and we'll bring it for you right more. president obama is bringing the course of happy football fan ace cross the country as real refs of the nfl return to the field. last night the league irone out a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement that ls th guyin sesh et deal. white house press secretary jay carney saying president obama is very pleased and called this deal a great day for america. w, robinson care of nbc sports will talk with me about this. rob, what a difference 24 hours ma. tell us abouthieal at herefs get out of it? >> well, thomas, first of all, the refs get most of what they wanted. they are getting more money for starters. they're going to be making within a few years up to $200,000 a year for what is actually a part-time job. so pretty good deal for them. ey also go khe pensions for the current refs. sunset the pension system and go to a 401(k) system within a few years. but all the current refs get to keep their pension.

that's the good news for them. the nfl on the other hand, they get a little bit more control over the quality of refereeing. they geto add some additiona rereeshohean c u once in a while. the nfl gets to add some full-time officials they can work with all year long. that's one of the things they wanted. so it was a compromise but i say the refs did well and you would expect them to do well after t debacle. >> have we gone fl ccle to e thfsac on the field with the ravens tonight against the cleveland browns because the ravens, that field goal kick was really the thing that started this split of all this. >> i tell you what, i knew you were a ravens fan. >> yeah. >> i think tonig we're going to see something you will never see again in an nfl game. a staingvahe reesn take the field in baltimore tonight. the real referees, because obviously fans have been really tired. the people in baltimore were happy the replacement refs ruled a call in their favor. >> at home. it's a good thing. aritorthat. i

thank you. good to have you here again. meantime, in baseball, there's a recent display of homophobia that has bot ten a t loof attention. it inspired some good conversations. after spendg him for tee dayshoutayea decided to split escobar's salary between two lgb tv rights groups you can play and gay and lesbian alliance against defamation. earlier this week i interviewed former pittsburgh pirate's owner ken mtcyin o of the closet. he lived in that for years. and here's a portion of the interview. >> why now, why would you decide to make such a personal revelation public? >> well, you know, i think everybody has that time when they feel comfortable and, for meha t come while i was in baseball there was a lot of challenges in front of the franchise and i never really felt that telling my story at that time was going to help the

franchise. things were tenuous. weerytoeep the team in pittsburgh and get the funding to build the new ballpark to ensure the team would be there for years. so after getting out of the game and spending some time doing some other things, i felt it was the right time. time. think it's hopefully going to be helulothks t are trying to, you know, get in sports or think that there's some ceiling why they can't. >> kevin, a lot of people have described what you were living through, basically living in the closet, a game of cloak and dagger, to keep peoe at bay and to keep people n askin to mysoti but in the sports world, was there a greater pressure for you to remain at bay, isolated from people getting to know you, especially when we think of you being at the top of the ticket, a frahise owner >>tas sct n brought up when i was in baseball and never talked.

to me, it was clear that it was so what of a -- a taboo issue you couldn't really discuss. you know, i -- as say h m concerns about the franchise, making sure the pirates stayed in pittsburgh. i didn't feel it was my time when i got into the game to discuss the issue. >> you have made a point to say that there was a time in your rt, durgournep, thomad threatened to out you. that is something that you had to live with day in and day out, the fear that somebody would actually do that to you to try bring you down or embarrass you or t team in some way? >> it wasstfe y lived with, you were sort of on eggshells really for the 12 years or so i was in the game, i was, you know, constantly nervous that somebody would find out and in some way that would bring my involve mentow and

most important hurt the team. it's a pretty frightening experience and you definitely feel isolated, you feel alone and that's not a great place. my hope is that any kid coming vehail w t 2012 will not hav family or their friends or anybody else because you know i'm hoping we've progressed quite a bit as a society. but i think sports needs to do a better job than it's done. you know the fact in 40 years, not on professional athlete in any oheaj four sports has come out. that does say sports -- sports have a long way to go as far as four major sports and hopefully this will continue the dialogue that rick welts and other folks have done a good job of putting out th but the'sll a ys to go. >> thanks to kevin mcclatchy. more from that interview online, including his thoughts on how

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welcomeback, everybody. we keep our eye on dueling cagn eveinacn viiaoday on the right of your screen, mitt romney is now addressing veterans at an american legion post in springfield, virginia, and on the left of your screen we're awaiting president obama, who is ing be to attending a grassroots event at farm bureau rg be that's an amphieate both men courting the military vote today in the state of virginia. that's going to wrap things up for me. "now" is straight ahead. >> we are doing anti-rain dances

to make sure you have blue skies nglas ncy ig day saay friend. >> no rain, no rain, no rain. >> only sunny skies to bless thatunion. we'll miss you. >> thanks. >> on friday. on our big day today, president obama and governor romney dever anoer round of dueling speeches but the governor's offering dueling ideas with himself. examine the latest foray into mixed messaging. "the new york times" david leonhardt explains why tax cuts don't lead to economic growth but have a hand in the growing > rime minister benjamin netanyahu gets set to address the united nations we'll discuss u.s. foreign policy. all at in a mere 180 seconds. th'surasder my town.sigonunf e

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